Many cabinets, particularly those found in kitchens, include drawers for storing various items. Often, drawers are mounted to the cabinet with elongate slide members that are fixed to the side walls of the drawer. Each slide member slidably engages a second elongate slide member that is fixed to the walls of the cabinet (often one of the slide members includes a small wheel that facilitates sliding motion). Some of such cabinets include multiple drawers, which can be disposed in vertically stacked fashion, side-by-side fashion, or both. When drawers are located side-by-side, typically slide members are mounted to the rear wall of the cabinet and to an upright member at the front of the cabinet that the slide members of the cabinet can engage.
In some instances, it is desirable that the mounting height of the drawer be adjustable. This is particularly true when the cabinet includes one or more doors that cover the drawers and provide the visible front surface of the cabinet. The adjustability enables the user to select drawer heights that are convenient for the items to be stored. Adjustable height drawers are particularly popular when they take the form of flat trays, which often include a short perimeter rim to keep items from sliding off. Over the life of the cabinet, the user may choose to store different items on the tray, so the ability to adjust the mounting elevation of the tray can enable the cabinet to accommodate these different items.
One system for providing adjustable height drawers and trays includes short (typically about 6 inches in length) vertically disposed mounting members to which slide members are mounted. The vertical mounting members, which are L-shaped in cross-section, are typically mounted to the side walls of the cabinet via screws inserted into a recessed surface of the mounting member. The vertical mounting members include a series of round holes in their front surfaces into which round dowels projecting from the slide members can be inserted. Thus, the mounting height of the drawer is determined by which hole in the mounting members receives the round dowel.
One issue with this system is the attachment of the round dowel to the slide member. Because the dowel is typically relatively small (about 0.320 inch in diameter) and is round, it can be somewhat difficult to attach via screws to the slide member, as the dowel tends to spin undesirably during attachment. Also, the round dowels tend to slide out of the holes in the vertical mounting member during shipping and/or use of the cabinet. Moreover, the screws tend to “back-out” of the holes in the dowels, which can loosen the dowels or even cause them to become disconnected from the slide members.
Further, when the system discussed above is employed with a “face-frame” cabinet (i.e., one which includes a front wall frame attached to the front portions of the side walls of the cabinet), the vertical mounting members are typically mounted in the front corners of the cabinet. However, in many instances glue and/or staples used to attach the front wall frame to the side walls are present in the corners. Consequently, it may be difficult in some instances to position the mounting member flush against the corner. Also, the relatively short length of the mounting members ordinarily requires the installer to position the mounting members precisely so that the holes of facing mounting members are at substantially the same height; otherwise, the tray or drawer may not be level when mounted.
In addition, when used in a “frameless” cabinet (i.e., one in which there is no front frame piece), the mounting members are typically mounted in pre-formed holes in the side wall that are offset slightly from the front edge of the side wall. The hinges for the cabinet door are typically mounted to the inside surfaces of the side walls (often in the pre-formed holes). When the hinges are so mounted, the mounting members are mounted between the hinges and should extend far enough from the side wall into the interior of the cabinet to position the drawer slide member so that the drawer can slide in and out of the cabinet without interference from the hinges.